Political transparency has always been antithetical to government by an aristocratic elite. But what about the US? Has the country ever had a government of, by, and for the people? How to build one?
| This post is part of a reading series on Democracy Incorporated by Sheldon S. Wolin. To access all chapters quickly, open this book’s presentation page. Disclaimer: This chapter summary is my own work and an invitation to read the book itself for a detailed view of the author’s ideas. |
Democracy, says the author, “is about the conditions that make it possible for ordinary people to better their lives by becoming political beings and by making power responsive to their hopes and needs . . . its first requirement is a supportive culture, a complex of beliefs, values, and practices that nurture equality, cooperation, and freedom.” In this regard, “A rarely discussed but crucial need of a self-governing society is that the members and those they elect to office tell the truth.” This need is what the final chapter of Democracy Incorporated is about.
Self-government—a government of, by, and for the people—is not possible if those in office assume that, when necessary, the citizenry can be lied to. Yet, in the age of spin doctors, public relations experts, and pollsters, Beltway politics in the United States is more about politics re-presented to citizens than politics representing them. According to Sheldon Wolin, a century of advertising in the U.S. has accustomed the public to exaggerations, false claims, and fantasies. Political consultants and media experts largely use proven selling techniques to frame the narrative most convenient to financial and political powers over citizens’ heads. Wars, for instance, are the objects of professional marketing campaigns, turning truth into a cheap commodity for the military-industrial complex.1